chapter 5

And then it came to him. Hadn't Professor Dumbledore warned Fudge that this very thing might happen during that unpleasant day in the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts, back near the end of June?

Was the Minister still so prepared to ignore the truth as he was back then? All current evidence pointed to the answer to that question being a resolute "yes" but Harry knew that he had to try.

Turning his attention back on Fudge, Harry said "There is one other, of course, who could have ordered those Dementors to attack me in Little Whinging."

Fudge caught on to exactly what Harry was getting at and replied "He's not back."

Harry scowled "Still ignoring everything that the Headmaster told you back in June, Minister? Are you still so determined to ignore the fact that your perfect little world is in danger once again?"

Silence greeted this. Harry could not help but notice that Fudge, the toad-lady and several other members of the Wizengamot looked triumphant now.

Not the reaction he was expecting.

Madam Bones leaned forward slightly in her seat and spoke "Mr Potter, Albus Dumbledore withdrew his statements regarding the alleged return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named a month ago."

Harry stared back up at her feeling stunned. "Withdrew his statements?" Did that mean Dumbledore had reason to believe that he, Harry, was not telling the truth? But that was preposterous. Dumbledore had questioned the Death Eater Barty Crouch Jr. himself, under the influence of truth serum. It just did not make any sense.

"Or does it?" asked a voice from somewhere in the back of Harry's mind. Harry blinked at the question, and thought on it. Dumbledore had changed his mind and withdrawn all his comments regarding the return of Lord Voldemort. Why? The answer to that hit Harry like a ton of bricks. Obviously Dumbledore stood to gain somehow if he kept quiet on the subject. Perhaps Fudge had bullied the rest of the Wizengamot into threatening to force Dumbledore out of his Chief Warlock post is he didn't stop. Apparently Dumbledore had done so, but why hadn't he informed Harry?

"So you can take the fall." replied the voice in the back of his mind.

"Why?" Harry wondered.

"Because by detaching himself from you, he will look better in the eyes of the Ministry." the voice said.

And suddenly it all made sense: the lack of contact with people he knew, the lack of news, no one showing up to help him today; it was probably all done upon Dumbledore's orders to keep himself looking good to those in power. And those who were watching him at Privet Drive were doing so, not for his safety, but to make sure he didn't do anything that would make Dumbledore look bad. They were probably checking to make sure he didn't send a letter to the Daily Prophet or something; they sure as hell hadn't been of any use to him when he was attacked!

Harry looked up at the hundred or so faces before him and saw that every single one was watching him intently. And Harry came to the sudden realisation that if he wanted to keep his wand in one piece, he would need a change in tactics.

One method immediately sprang to mind, but the question was whether or not he could do it.

"A very Slytherin plan." the voice noted.

Harry would normally have shied away from anything that might associate him with the Slytherin House of Hogwarts, but acting like a Gryffindor had gotten him nowhere. It was time to let his Slytherin side out to play.

Slowly he stood from his seat and stepped forward before bowing low to the Wizengamot and saying "My sincere apologies. It appears that the plans have been changed and that Dumbledore did not see fit to inform me of the situation."

The murmur of the Wizengamot grew loud very fast following that statement, and Harry was pleased to see that Fudge looked positively overjoyed at his "divulgence."

Harry was sitting in a large and ornate office. A desk made of exquisitely carved and refined mahogany, far larger than anyone required a desk to be, sat before him. On the opposite side of the desk there sat a tall, Queen Anne wingback chair of black leather. In that chair sat Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, who was surveying Harry with an inquisitive look that really did not seem to belong on his face. Most people would doubt that the Minister could actually make his face form such a look. Pompous and/or constipated, yes, or maybe befuddled, but never inquisitive. Nevertheless, it was there. And it made Harry quite uncomfortable, though he was doing his level best to conceal it.

Harry himself was seated in a chair not too dissimilar to the Minister's, though this one was admittedly a fair bit smaller.

They were currently waiting on Madam Bones. Following Harry's "confession" in the courtroom, the Minister had adjourned the day's proceedings so that, in his words "New evidence could be assessed and put in order." Harry guessed that meant that Fudge wanted to hear what Harry had to say for himself without the rest of the Wizengamot there, thus enabling him to discover what kind of spin he would have to put on the situation in order to get the best results. After all, it wouldn't do for Harry to mention anymore "Dementors at the Quidditch game" type things to the whole Wizengamot. Fudge had obviously seen a chance to get Harry on his side of things as well as do damage to Dumbledore's reputation, but that would only work so long as he and Harry got their stories straight.

Madam Bones had insisted on being in the meeting and, given that the case had already been brought before the Wizengamot, Fudge could not deny the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement access to proceedings.

Harry knew that this meant that the Minister would have to tread carefully, and it was likely that he would as well. Madam Bones would be a major asset as an ally. She would also make a devastating enemy.

Strangely Madam Bones had not immediately come up to the office when Harry and the Minister had. Instead they had gotten outside the courtroom and she had suddenly announced that she had a quick bit of business to attend to. What that business could be Harry could not guess, surely she had set aside a good portion of her morning in order to accommodate his trial. Nevertheless, they had gone on without her.

As they were waiting Harry ran many thoughts and possibilities through his mind. What should he reveal? What should he not? What should he put a spin on? Where should he lie? What did he want to achieve here?

The door to the office and Madam Bones walked in. Once she had taken a seat in a chair beside Harry, the Minister began.

"So, Mr Potter, you said down in the courtroom that plans had been changed. What exactly did you mean by that?"

"Oh, it's quite simple," replied Harry "Dumbledore desires to take control of the Ministry for himself."

Fudge sat up straighter in his seat "And why would he want to do that?"

Harry shook his head "I am not entirely sure why. I'm just one of the pawns he hoped to use in order to invoke the change, and therefore not entitled to know the greater details of the scheme. It is possible, however, that he has come to mistrust your judgement in matters."

"My judgement?" asked Fudge.

"Oh yes," replied Harry "For example there was my third year, where you insisted that the Dementors be placed around Hogwarts."

"That was for your safety," said Fudge "Sirius Black-"

Harry cut him off "The Dementors got a lot closer to killing me than Black has, and on three separate occasions as well. When, at the end of the year, Black had me confounded," Harry didn't like saying that as it wasn't truthful to Sirius, but he had to play to the Ministry's view of those events "and yet a Dementor tried to administer the Kiss to me, intending to get rid of me before moving on to Black. The Dementors lack any and all perceptions with regards to the differences between people and by putting them at Hogwarts you nearly got killed the very person you wanted to protect the most. I hasten to add that there was another student there at the time, a friend of mine. That would have just made things worse. It is only through the Defence Professor for that year teaching me the patronus charm that I was able to keep the Dementors at bay long enough for help to arrive. Had that not been the case, I would not be here to have this conversation, and I would guess that you would be out of office, either in Azkaban for the endangerment of students, or lynched by the Wizarding public for your part in the death of The Boy-Who-Lived. It is likely and a fair few other Ministry officials would have found themselves in the same situation." At that Harry nodded to Madam Bones.

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